and the winner is...

simple silhouettes "aster" in watermelon with a pear sash. ta-da!!!

this ended up being by far the cutest in person, and it was adorable and flattering on all three of the maids who accompanied me (though we did not try out the above pose). the pleated neckline is a cute detail that will allow my ladies to avoid the hassles of strapless bras and dress-adjusting fidgetyness. prepare to dance-party like it's 2009 with wild abandon and no wardrobe concerns! AND ALSO, it is super precious with my beloved sash (cue adorable picture we'll be taking), and everyone seems to be excited about it. FABULOUS!

many thanks to catherine, victoria and masey (as well as my mama and godmother) for taking a 6-hour-round-trip drive with me yesterday in pursuit of this dress. i had a fabulous time and very much appreciate your attendance and willingness to let me dress you multiple times and look you up and down (and sideways and backwards) for several hours. much love!!!

you can check this mamma-jamma off my to-do list. praise baby jesus in the manger (on thursday).

and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

in the future...

look! it's us! we're trying on dresses at the awesome bridesmaid store in nashville next monday! aw, we're so cute.

rooooooooad triiiiiiiiip! it's official: noon on monday, dec 22nd. not to be confused with noon monday today, like the lady from the store did when she called me at 12:15 to see if i was coming. i wasn't.

all bridesmaids are invited. bring some tunes and be sure to wear deodorant, cuz it's gonna be a long ride.

my colors are blush and bashful (if bashful is green)

this blog is in need of some pictures. so, here are some to remind you of what i want my wedding to look like. to recap:

you'll receive an invitation that is reminiscent of this awesome calligraphy design
slash this layout
you will look something like this, but with better flowers (you have such a pretty smile)
and be preceded by the two cutest girls in the whole world (who just happen to be related to me), looking something like this adorable picture from my photographer's blog
then i'll get married to the most fantastic guy eva, but he's not so fantastic as to have decided what he wants his groomsmen to wear (other than a tux), so no picture to illustrate what we'll find at the end of the aisle.

afterwards here's how we'll all look together, walking across the golf course at the country club to the reception (victoria just told a funny joke and kate's laughing and madge is admiring me and mandy's rill blonde)
there will be pretty lighting
and lush greenery
and lovely flowers
and things that look like this

and tasty cake, which we'll cut in the very spot that this couple i don't know but found on a photographer's website and had their reception at chickasaw did (and i may steal their candles-on-the-mantle idea)
and captain fantastic will probably make me drive off in his '68 winnebago, at which time we'll embark on a fabulous honeymoon to some gorgeous beach and return to be the cutest, littlest, most dog-obsessed married couple you know. sound good?

i think so.

behold

it has arrived. the dress. delivered to my office by the ups man just moments ago.

fabulous.

"i can’t wait to see you in it! i wish i could see you just for a bit and then forget completely," says captain fantastic.

taking stock

things we have accomplished:
* secured wedding site & celebrant
* secured reception venue, which includes all tables/chairs/silverware/etc and food
* secured bridal party
* secured cake lady
* secured wedding gown - which, might i add, will arrive via mail in my hot little hands NEXT WEEK! eeeeeekkkkkk!!!!!
* secured bridesmaids gifts (because on occasion, i surprise even myself with planning ahead)

things we have yet to do:
* secure band
* secure bridal party attire (you might be naked, but you'll have a great gift!)
* secure flowers
* choose menu
* finalize guest list
* register
* begin planning honeymoon
* everything else....

yikes. maybe it's time to do those things. at least SOMETHING. i've been at a standstill for several weeks. i'm hoping that the impending (as in mere hours from now) arrival of matron of honor slash cousin with husband, puppy, and parents (including craftiest of crafty aunt joanie, score) for the thanksgiving holidays will breathe new life into this shindig.

since i need to add a pretty picture to this post, how's this:
new style of coren moore bridesmaid dress! i realize this picture is not-so-awesome. click here to see it's full splendor. i think since it's named after my mom and grandma, it's a shoe-in. a trip to nashville is in the works for sometime in the next few weeks....

i'm an inconsistent blogger

apologies.

wedding-related things that have happened quasi-recently:

* my super-fab godmother visited the bridesmaid dress store in nashville that carries the designers i like and acted as my crash test dummy for in-person fabric and fit. she voted for the christy style from lula kate. i was excited, because that was my fav. then i looked at the "real weddings" section of their website and found this
yikes. methinks i need to make a trek to nashville and reevaluate. anybody up for a roadtrip? anyone? perhaps in person the collars are less...intense. if not, i may cry. and pick another style.

* my parents, aforementioned godparents, captain fantastic and i went to hear a potential wedding band. the drummer ended up being the husband of my former coworker and father of one of mom's students. small world. they also ended up being super white and singing songs like "build me up buttercup" and michael jackson covers circa 1986. don't get me wrong, i like that stuff as much as the next guy. we are just torn because we always pictured having some stax classics motown band at the wedding. but dad really likes them, so we may have a winner.

* an engagement photoshoot slot opened up for next saturday, yay! but captain fantastic has a guided fly-fishing tour of the little red river already booked and paid for, boo. back to square one.

* we have had two premarital counseling sessions that have been inspiring and exciting, and now we're even more pumped to get married. good news!

* i got an online coupon for this place, which will make the silhouettes i crave for realz with scissors and paper and a profile photo. goodbye frustrating photoshop! hello legit artwork to hang in our house after the wedding!
(and don't worry, i've nixed the cookie idea. you people were pretty adamant about that.)

* i've gotten tired of planning. don't want to plan, just want to do. i just want it to be june 20. i want all of yall to be here, i want the cake to be made and the flowers to be arranged, i want to be drinking champagne and wearing pretty dresses and staking my claim on c-dawg with a big ole platinum band. i'm temporarily over it. it being wedding planning. i'm hoping that i'll get my second wind soon....

more invite-tations

mkay so i keep returning to my favorite aspect of the wedding planning process thus far: invitations. i INSIST on designing them myself. insist. i have decided, and i shan't be swayed. i think this is one area where i really, truly can d.i.myself and it will turn out great. so i'm determined. maybe i can't print.i.y, but i can as least design.i.y.

this invitation exhibits the type of thing i'd really like to get to do with my life.
i also think it's a great invitation that's part current trend and part traditional. it's not too crazy, but just different enough. it could be done a little toned-down and in b/w to make it more traditional, yes? i like the map too. not that we'll need a map, but you know...

i also super love these:
again, in b/w it would lean more to the traditional side and less to the super-trendy. if you ask me. which, you know, you kinda did, reading my blog and all. i just can't get enough of calligraphic flourishes around lettering. yum.

i saw this on a blog the other day too. (i'm so bad at remembering where...i just grab pictures and put them in my "weddin thangs" folder for inspiration...i hope the internet fairy doesn't get me for not properly attributing my photos...) anyway, it incorporates the silhouettes i've come to adore, and i think it's super neat. this is definitely untraditional, but i think it's neat inspiration.
i love this reply card! to go with my theme, i think marley & sterling would be quite handsome in silhouette on the reply cards. you laugh (not you marie, you understand), but you also know that our dogs are like our children (we have definitely become those people) and i can think of few things more "us" than...uh, them. if we were getting married in someone's backyard, they would be accompanying our adorable flower girls down the aisle. alas, we're not. sigh.
while we're talking reply cards here, i have a few ideas. 1) postcard replies - save paper and moola by not necessitating envelopes 2) reply cards with cute options like "wouldn't miss it for the world" or "be there in spirit" are cute. too cute? maybe.

finally, i'm totally digging these invites:
for some reason i just really like the line across the page, kinda like the white-on-black calligraphy envelope in my previous post. i'm working on my handwriting as we speak. before you nay-say that i can't include monograms, silhouettes and fancily-written names in one wedding invitation, please revisit the above inspirations and notice all the different elements. i think i can make it work. do you?